This Friday’s groove lives far beyond its original recording. Slippin’ Into Darkness was released by the (amazing) group WAR in 1971. Let me know what you think!
The pulse of the rhythm is essentially a 3-2 clave, originally an Afro-Cuban rhythm that pops up over and over across many music genres.
You might recognize the beat from its use in songs like Not Fade Away (Originally by Buddy Holly and the Crickets, but covered extensively, including versions by The Rolling Stones, The Grateful Dead, and even Rush). It’s also the beat heard in I Want Candy (by The Strangeloves), which is covered by Bow Wow Wow). It’s also the beat in Hey! Bo Diddly and why many refer to this rhythm as “the Bo Diddly” beat. Some refer to it as the “ham bone” or just 3-2 clave.
Once you take this in, you’ll hear this beat all over.
As with so many WAR tracks, many have covered or sampled Slippin’.
It’s interesting to note the similarity between Slippin’ into Darkness and the more famous Get Up Stand Up (written by Bob Marley and Peter Tosh in 1973). There are stories out there about Bob being a fan of WAR - and particularly of Slippin’ Into Darkness - and wanting to collaborate with the band. As the story goes, Marley borrowed heavily from the track and WAR did not object. Just listen to Slippin’ and you can easily sing Get Up Stand Up over the groove.
I love both songs from these two socially conscious groups responsible for many great grooves.
I was very lucky to work with WAR earlier in my career (but late in their career). I loved talking with Lonnie Jordan (keyboard and vocals) and Harold Brown (drums), and Howard Scott (guitar and vocals). Lonnie told me an amazing story I’m happy to re-tell, but hit me up privately as it’s NSFl (not suitable for LinkedIn).
Note: I’m linking the longer (and I think better) 6:59 album version with the long intro. The single edit truncates the intro and removes a verse to bring it down to 3:59.
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